Location of Gas Fill Door

[ehartman13]

I heard at the convention that the first half of the production run had the gas fill door located at the rear of the car and the second half relocated the tank and fill door to the front for better weight distribution. Is this the case? I was wondering because looking at the Tucker Store and the model of #1017 from the Franklin Mint, the gas filler door is on the front fender. What is the story behind this and which is correct? I find it funny that the Franklin Mint could have made such a mistake. Thanks for any information.

[TuckerCar]

Don't forget when the Franklin Mint made a model of "1017," they already had the casting from the previous blue and gold models they made. They're not going to change the molds when they can just paint it another color.

Never doubt the Kahn Man!

[BARNICLE BILL]

DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT BUT IT WAS NOT THE COPY OF 1017 THAT THE FRANKLIN MINT MADE IN A VERY LIMITED NUMBER. WAS THERE A SERIAL NUMBER ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS MODEL? WITH THE RELEASE OF 1017 THEY PUT INDIVIDUAL SERIAL NUMBERS ON THE BOTTOM OF THE MODEL. ASLO DID A PAIR OF GLOVES USED TO HANDLE THE MODEL COME WITH IT? I STRONGLY SUSPECT THAT YOU MAY HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT ONE OF THE EARLIER MODELS THAT HAS BEEN REPAINTED. FRANKLIN MINT DID CORRECT THE LOCATION OF THE GAS FILLER DOOR ON THE RELEASE OF 1017 AND IT IS NOT SHOWING ON THE FRONT LEFT FENDER. SO I THINK SOMEONE IS TRYING TO SELL SOMETHING THAT IT ISN'T. MORE CLEARLY, A TUCKER LABLED AS 1017 THAT HAS A GAS FILLER DOOR IN THE LEFT FRONT FENDER IS NOT A MODEL OF THE 1017 AS WE KNOW IT.

BILL

[BARNACLE BILL]

KAHN MAN, THEY MOST ASSUREDLY DID RELOCATE THE LOCATION OF THE GAS FILLER DOOR PLUS MAKE A FEW OTHER MINOR CHANGES IN THE MODEL. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE FACTS WHEN YOU REPLY TO AN INQUIRY. IT IS NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE TWO PREVIOUS TUCKER MODELS THEY SOLD.

BARNACLE BILL

[BARNACLE BILL]

KAHN MAN,
GET THE CORRECT INFORMATION PRIOR TO POSTING YOUR REPLY. FRANKLIN MINT DID CHANGE THE LOCATION OF THE FUEL FILLER AND ALSO MADE A FEW OTHER MINOR CHANGES PRIOR TO SELLING THE DARK GREEN 1017.

BARNACLE BILL

[TuckerCar]

CALM DOWN THERE KILLER. ERIC WAS REFERRING TO THE PHOTO THAT FRANKLIN MINT USED FOR THE 1017 MODEL. HOWEVER I WILL CHECK MY MODEL WHEN I GET HOME.

[ehartman13]

Sorry to cause such an uproar, I was referring to the photo posted (I did say that in the original posting, maybe it was not read all the way thru) and every other photo I have seen on the web regarding this Franklin Mint model (Including the Franklin Mint website itself and searching for Tucker).
I just stopped back in to look reply to Tuckercar that I had worked in prototype for years and I know that the way engineers change their minds about something in a molded part, be it plastic, powdered metal, magnesium, zinc or whatever, it is not that hard to change a mold or a die to reflect the new change. And all I was asking politely was if this was a mistake that they might have overlooked. Sorry to get someone so upset over this inquiry.
Eric
P.S. It is also nice to use Spell Check before posting, try it "BARNACLE BILL"

[ehartman13]

So has anyone found out WHY the Franklin Mint car is wrong? Look at their website "http://www.franklinmint.com" enter Tucker in the search box and LOOK at the photo. Why is the filler door in the photo when it is not there on the car it is modeled after?

[Guest2]

I'm just curious...could they have moved the gas from rear to front because of how hard it was to get gas in the rear location because it just didn't all fit together right, or maybe they realized that the chrome door swinging open would completely screw up the pain?

Just just a couple of thoughts after being around an early one for a while.

[guest2]

ooops...screw up the paint.

[Guest]

Oh what the heck I might just jump in to this too!

On the pilot production run the first Tucker cars used the left rear fender vent as the door to the gas filler. As I understand it due to the weight of the engine and full gas tank they found the car handled a bit too freely. They moved the gas tank and placed the filler door on the left front fender.

ON to the story of the FRANKLIN Mint #1017.

I was actively involved with the development of this limited model with the Franklin Mint and supplied them with photos, fabric and paint samples from the newly restored Tucker #1017. The Mint painted a pre-production model, using their prior casting, and sent it to us for review. The photos they took, which they used in all promotional material, show the filler door in the incorrect place for Tucker #1017.

Fred Hunter of Florida painstakingly restored Tucker #1017 over a period of three years and unveiled it at the Tucker convention in Grand Rapids, MI in June 2003. He lost his battle with cancer in December 2004.

The Franklin Mint pre-production model of Tucker #1017 was unveiled at the Florida Tucker convention in June 2004 with Fred Hunter's wife Lyn on hand. The actual limited edition model was released in October 2004 with the corrected filler door location. You will also notice other differences from their other two models: the way the under carriage is painted, the carpet treatment and steering wheel color and horn button decal.

The Franklin Mint issued only 2,500 of the Tucker #1017 in dark green. Number 1017 and 0017 we given to Lyn Hunter in honor of the restoration her husband Fred had completed just the year piror. The first 100 were made available exclusively to members of the Tucker Automobile Club of America.

The the one of a kind pre-production prototype, with its incorrect gas filler door and all, was given to TACA for the Tucker Historical Collection and Library.

So - Eric... what was the question again? <grin>

Hope this has helped to make the mud passable.
Jay
HCL@TuckerClub.org

[ehartman13]

Jay,
Thank you for finally clearing that up. I knew someone out there would have the answer. And it seems funny, looking at the message board that both you and Richard have had to sign on as "GUESTS" to post a reply (but it seems Richard has just been able to sign on again under his message board name and not GUEST). Again thanks for clearing that up and Karen and I will see you soon. Keep the ketchup flowing, LOL.
Eric